LAURIE Houts was 25 years old when she was found strangled in her car in September 1992 near her office in Mountain View, California.
Three decades later, her ex-boyfriend’s roommate is charged with murder and will be extradited to California pending trial.
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Who was Laurie Houts?
Laurie Houts was a computer engineer living in California when she was found strangled in her car.
On September 5, 1992, Houts was reportedly on her way from work at Adobe Systems and had planned to attend a wedding later that day with her boyfriend, Brent Fulmer.
But Houts never made it to the wedding. She was found strangled in her car on the side of the road several hours later by a jogger.
She was found with a three-foot nylon rope still tied in a square knot around her chin, mouth and neck, and investigators found her footprints on the dashboard, evidence of a struggle.
Authorities turned to Fulmer’s roommate, John Woodwardas prime suspect in Houts’ murder after finding his fingerprints on the outside door of her car.
Woodward was arrested and charged with the murder of Laurie Houts.
Has anyone been convicted of her murder?
Woodward was arrested just a few months after Houts was found dead in her car and prosecutors claimed Woodward was driven out of jealousy to kill her.
They argued that Woodward was jealous of the intimate relationship between Houts and Fulmer, which prompted him to kill her.
Prior to Woodward’s arrest, police conducted a monitored phone call between Fulmer and his roommate, in which Woodward “did not deny” murdering her, according to police records.
According to the records, Woodward had asked Fulmer “what evidence the police had against him and suggested they meet in a parking lot to discuss the matter”. Mercury News reported.
Woodward was brought to court, where he denied the charges against him.
He was tried twice in the 1990s, but both trials ended in a hanging jury, 8-4 and 7-5, both in favor of acquittal.
The judge ultimately dismissed the case due to insufficient evidence and neither convicted nor acquitted, Woodward moved to the Netherlands.
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Have the police found clues in the murder of Laurie Houts?
Woodward got off the plane at John F Kennedy International Airport on July 9, 2022 and was arrested in connection with Houts’ murder.
Woodward, now 58, is the chief executive of ReadyTech, an international training software company, but police say they have new evidence connecting Woodward to a three-decade-old cold case.
Researchers have continued to re-examine evidence, but it wasn’t until 2005 that they found a clue.
DNA samples collected from the rope found around Houts’ neck reportedly matched Woodward.
The Mountain View Police Department, led by Detective Sgt. David Fisher reopened the business in 2020.
“We thoroughly looked at every option we had,” Fisher told Mercury News.
In a new investigation released on July 11, 2022, police wrote that “fibers from sweatpants in Woodward’s car were virtually indistinguishable from fibers found on the murder weapon (rope) around Houts’ neck.”
However, without knowing Woodward’s location, authorities were unable to make an arrest.
When Woodward flew to the US on July 9, 2022, he was spotted by the Department of Homeland Security and investigators flew to New York where they arrested him.
Authorities have until July 29 to send Woodward to California’s Santa Clara County, where he will await his murder trial.
If convicted, he faces a life sentence.
In a pronunciationsays the van Houts family: “Laurie Anne Houts was a beloved family member and friend for many.
“Although she was only six feet tall, she had a huge heart and her wit and spunk were endearing to everyone.
“The way Laurie lived and treated people was a beautiful example of what was right in the world. She was a gem to so many, but her radiant life was taken from us at the age of 25.
They added: “We are hopeful that justice can finally be served for Laurie and are incredibly grateful to the law enforcement agencies who have never given up on her.”